Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand the importance of accurately estimating how much of a food they should eat. The youth will estimate portion sizes of snacks and compare to the actual serving size. To make estimating easier, they will compare portion sizes to common items.

Introduction

To introduce this topic, share the following information with the youth. If desired, you can reference the Nutrition Facts label on this handout.

• Average portion sizes of food and beverages in America have significantly increased over the past 20 years. Often the portion size of food and/or drink we have is enough for two or three people. This increase in portion size is changing what we think of as a “normal” portion.
• A portion is the amount of food that you choose to eat for a meal or snack.
• A serving is a measured amount of food or drink, such as one slice of bread or 1 cup (eight ounces) of milk.
• Many foods that come as a single portion actually have multiple servings. The Nutrition Facts label on packaged foods—found on the backs of cans, sides of boxes, etc. — tells you the number of servings in the container.
• It is important for young people to understand that this distortion of portion sizes is causing us to think we can eat more of certain foods than our bodies truly need which can lead to being overweight or obese and an increased risk for chronic (long-lasting) disease.

Activity: What’s your portion size?

For this activity you will need a full bag of chips or box of snack crackers and two paper plates.

Any young person or instructor handling food should wash their hands prior to handling the food.

1. On one plate, ask a volunteer to pour out the amount of snack they think one serving would be.
2. Next, have him or her look at the Nutrition Facts label on the package. It tells you how many servings are in the package and what amount equals one serving size. Have the volunteer take out one serving size and put it on the other plate next to the plate with the serving size he or she thought might be one serving.
3. Ask the youth to compare the two, and let them share their thoughts about it.
4. What happens if we are always eating portions that are more than one serving and we start to think that a bigger portion of food is “normal?” Give the group time to answer. If we eat portions on a regular basis that are larger than our body requires we may gain excess weight or become unhealthy.
5. Give a few examples of portion distortion:
   • A single serving of pretzels is 10 pieces, however many people will eat twice as many without realizing they’re eating a double portion.
   • Many brand name cereals list a portion as ¾ or 1 cup. If you were to pour out ¾ cup of cereal it would look rather small, especially if you use a typical cereal bowl.

Understanding portion sizes is an important component to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Activity: Estimating Accurate Portions

1. Show young people the Portion Distortion Slides/Quiz-Interactive Web Application.
2. Ask them, what are some ways we can keep our portions within a single serving size? Possible answers might be:
   • Don’t eat snacks like chips or cookies right from the bag. Instead, put one serving size on our plate, close the bag, and put it away.
   • Look at the Nutrition Facts labels on foods more often so we know the actual serving size.
3. Review the importance of understanding what is an acceptable portion size of the food they are eating.

Serving sizes are listed on the labels of most foods, so use the Nutrition Facts label to decide the amount that is right for you. For foods that don’t have a label, common items can be your guide to help you decide the right portion.

• Deck of cards = 3 ounce serving of meat/protein
• Tennis ball = serving of fruit or 1/2 cup ice cream
• Fist = 1 cup serving vegetables and grains
• Tip of thumb = dressings, butter or cream cheese
• 4 dice = 1 ounce of cheese

If time permits, use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to come up with your own comparison of portion size to common objects.

• • Vegetables
  • Grains
  • Protein Foods
  • Fruits
  • Dairy

Conclusion

Have young people write down the most surprising thing they learned about portion sizes today and post it on a visible area in the classroom or take home to post on their refrigerator.

 Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that young people can continue discussing healthy portion sizes with their families at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Portion sizes: What amount is ‘right’?

Additional Instructor Resources:

• Allina Health Portion Size Guide
• Managing Portion Sizes: Meals and Snacks video
• Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Serving Sizes and Portions

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how choosing healthful snacks is a habit that can benefit them every day as they grow. The youth will discuss their snacking habits and make a plan to switch out unhealthful snacks with healthful ones.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about snacking. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

• Snacks are foods we eat between meals to satisfy hunger and supply us with consistent energy. To lots of kids and teens, a snack is a bag of chips, some cookies or other high calorie, low nutrient food. Kids are eating more snacks than ever and their calorie intake from those snacks has nearly doubled over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, the extra snacking has contributed to individuals becoming overweight in our society.
• Does that mean snacking is bad for kids? Definitely not! Snacking can help them stay focused at school and while doing homework, and give them a nutritious boost for the day.
• When we think of healthful snack choices we should look to the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein).
• Healthful snacks are ones that fit into the five food groups. For example, string cheese (dairy) and carrot sticks (vegetable). Potato chips may start out as a healthful vegetable but after processing, it becomes high in calories, fat and sodium.

Activity: Snacking Habits

1. Ask the youth: What is a habit? A habit is something you do often or regularly, without even thinking about it.
2. Ask young people to name some habits and write their answers on the board. Habits might include brushing teeth, cracking knuckles, biting nails, smoking or exercise.
3. Ask young people to circle the habits that are good for you. Are there more unhealthful habits listed than healthful ones? Why? Possible answers might be:
   • easier to do unhealthful habits
   • harder to do healthful ones
   • healthful ones might need reminding or support from family or friends.
4. Have each young person take out a piece of paper and pencil and ask them to write down up to five things that they eat on a regular basis for snacks. Give the youth time to write their answers. Invite young people to share what they wrote.
5. Ask the youth, why do we eat snacks? When do we eat snacks? Can the snack choices you make over and over become a habit? How do you know if your snack choice is a healthful habit for you or one that is not healthful? Give them a few minutes to brainstorm and share their answers. Explain how foods that fall into the five food groups are healthful snacks and ones that we should choose regularly over unhealthful snacks.
6. Ask young people to share what might be some consequences (results) of making unhealthful snack choices a habit over time. Possible answers might be:
   • extra weight
   • blocked arteries
   • heart disease
   • cancer
   • being tired.
7. Open the Online Interactive Lesson and Activity. This helps you review the benefits of healthy snacking and gives examples of many snack foods from the five food groups. Young people can choose snacks from the food groups to build their own creative snack idea.
8. Have the youth to create an action plan for choosing healthful snacks instead of unhealthful snacks on the My Pledge to Eat Right and Move More worksheet.

Conclusion

Ask the young people to identify someone (friend, family member, or teacher) to help support or remind them of their action plan to change their snacking habit.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can work together to plan smart snacks at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Additional Instructor Resources

Are You a Smart Snacker? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food?  – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people think of healthful snacks they can eat. In this two-day activity, youth will use their creativity to invent a healthful snack and market it to their peers.

Instructor Notes

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about snacks. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

• Kids often view snacks as a bag of chips, cookies or candy. In doing so, they are missing an opportunity to get much needed nutrients through planning ahead for a healthful snack choice.
• Snacks should be part of a healthy diet that helps kids to refuel between meals and satisfy their hunger.
• Their snack choices are often influenced by catchy names and marketing strategies geared toward kids.

Introduction

Display a variety of food packaging for the youth to review. Ask the kids to name some of their favorite snacks. Analyze the snacks they mention, as well as the ones on display, and decide as a group if they are healthful. Do they include the five food groups found on MyPlate? Are they high in sugar, fat or salt?

 

Activity: Day 1

Tell the youth that they will be inventing their own made-up healthful snack. They will have the opportunity to use their creativity to invent a made-up healthful snack on paper. This will include naming their product, what it looks like and its packaging (including a nutrition facts label). They will decide the pricing and marketing/advertising strategy for their snack. They will then give a brief presentation/commercial promoting their product idea to their classmates.

Provide the youth background knowledge on inventing a healthful snack item. Remind them to consider factors that would make the item healthful or unhealthful. Encourage young people to think about MyPlate as they create their snacks. Does it have ingredients that are part of the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, and protein)? Is it low in fat and added sugars and/or too much salt?

Feel free to share the following made-up snack ideas to help jump start their imaginations.

• “Merry Cherry Salsa” – Salsa made from a variety of fruits instead of vegetables.
• “Popping Corn” – Popcorn coated with something healthful and not butter.
• “Apriana Bars” – Bar made with apricots and bananas.
• “Blick” – Fruit smoothie drink named after Blake and Nick, “You’ll never get sick with Blick,” was their slogan.

Provide each young person or group with white poster board, blank nutrition facts label, scissors, colored paper, colored markers and/or pencils for drawing.

When their created snack item is complete it should include the following:

• Attractive packaging
• Ingredient list
• Nutrition Facts label
• Price
• Marketing slogan and/or advertising campaign

Activity: Day 2

Have the young people present their healthful food product to the class.

Ask the following questions:

• What is the name of your product?
• How would you describe it – taste, texture?
• Which of the food group(s) did you use?
• Why do you consider it to be a healthful snack?
• Describe the packaging you created for the product.
• What are highlights from the Nutrition Facts label?
• How much does your product cost?
• What is your marketing pitch or slogan for the product?

Optional: Post creative healthful snack displays in the classroom or school cafeteria.

Conclusion

As a group, reflect back to the creative snacks that the youth invented. Remind young people that they can be creative with their snacks each day to make healthful eating more fun!

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthful snack ideas at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Healthy snacking: Moving beyond milk and cookies

Snacking made easy!

Looking for a quick and healthy after-school snack?

Additional Instructor Resources

Are You a Smart Snacker? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
There Are Sneaky Sugars! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food? – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
ChooseMyPlate.gov
Make Your Calories Count

Lesson Overview

Finding a healthful, well-balanced meal in most fast food restaurants can be a challenge, but there are always choices you can make that are better than others. In this lesson, young people will explore common fast food choices and the corresponding nutritional information. They will list healthier choices to make when eating at fast food restaurants.

Introduction

Today’s families are busy and on the go with work and activities. Kids are eating away from home more than ever. To introduce the topic of fast food, ask the youth:

1. How often do you usually go to a fast food restaurant? Once or twice a week? More than that?
2. Why do we go to fast food restaurants? (Quick, easy, tastes good)
3. Ask young people to list some of their favorite fast food restaurants? List their answers on the chalkboard or whiteboard.

Activity: Your Fast Food Menu

Each young person will need a blank piece of paper and pencil.

• Have the youth fold their paper lengthwise into thirds. (A fun way to tell them is to fold it the “hot dog” way for lengthwise.)
• In the first column (left side) ask young person to write down each food and drink item they order from one of their favorite fast food restaurants. Tell them to make sure to include the size they get, such as small, medium or large.
• In the second (middle) column, have them write down which of the five food groups each food or drink item belongs to (vegetables, fruits, grains, protein, dairy). Review the five food groups with the youth as needed. Show MyPlate graphic or use our Interactive Whiteboard activity (see What You Need) to talk about MyPlate. If their food doesn’t fit into one of the food groups have them write “extra” instead. Remind them that some foods fit into more than one category. A cheeseburger would be protein/grain/dairy and “extra” for added fat.

Activity: Fast Food Nutrition Information

How can we find nutrition information about the meals you typically choose?

• You can find the nutrition facts on the individual website link including the amount of sugar, salt, calories and nutrients in each food and drink.
• We’ve provided links here to nutrition information from the fast food places kids are most likely to name, but if the young people name others, you are likely to find nutritional information on each restaurant’s websites.
• Help the youth find their favorite choices in the links below, and take a look at the nutritional information that’s provided. It will be helpful to write down calories, sodium (salt), sugar, fat and vitamins. Be sure to watch portion sizes as you compare!

Fast food nutrition information
Pull up different fast food restaurant nutrition information on a projector. Here is a list of restaurants:

McDonalds® Nutrition Information
Wendys® Nutrition Information
Burger King® Nutrition Information
Arby’s Nutrition® Information
Dairy Queen® Nutrition Information
Subway® Nutrition Information

Ask the following questions:

1. 1. What size French fries do you usually order? Notice the difference between the calories, fat and salt (sodium) between the large size and small size fries.
   2. What size burger do you usually order? Compare the nutrition information of the biggest burgers to the smallest ones.
   3. How about drinks? If you choose pop, the same idea is true—smallest is best.
   4. Ask if there are better food options available at fast food restaurants. What have they tried or heard about?
   5. What could you have instead of French fries that would be a better choice?
      • McDonalds® – apple dippers (peeled apple slices with low fat caramel dip), Yoplait Go-Gurt, or Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait.
      • Wendy’s® – apple slices
      • Burger King® – natural applesauce
      • Arby’s® – applesauce
      • Dairy Queen® – applesauce or banana
      • Subway®- baked chips or apple slices
   6. What are some other ways we can make better choices when eating out at fast food restaurants?  Allow young people to offer ideas. Here are some example:
      • Try salads with low-fat dressing, use less dressing or try it without dressing.
      • Use mustard instead of mayonnaise on sandwiches, ask for half the normal mayo/special sauce or go without mayo/special sauces. (lowers calories, fats)
      • Always choose the smallest size of whatever you are ordering, especially if it is a menu item higher in calories, fat, salt and/or sugar.
      • Choose grilled instead of breaded and fried. (lowers fat and calorie content)
      • Choose water or low-fat milk to drink. Juice can be ok sometimes if the portion size is a single serving of four to six ounces and made from 100% juice. (lowers calories and added sugars and fats)
      • Choose fruits/vegetable options when available as sides to increase intake of fruits and vegetables to make it a more healthful meal.

Conclusion

After completing the exercises above, have the youth take out their folded sheets again. Using the nutrition information they have learned, in column number three (right side), have the young people list other options for food and drink choices to make their meal better and include more of the five food groups.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can continue discussing health food choices at home

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

You have options: choosing healthy foods on the run

Additional Instructor Resources: 

• Make Good Fast Food Choices! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Eating Well Even at Fast Food Restaurants video
• Managing Portion Sizes While Dining Out video
• Allina Health – Fast Food Restaurants
• Medline Plus Fast Food Tips

Lesson Overview

Foods commonly eaten by kids are typically served in larger portions than what their bodies really need. This lesson uses MyPlate to help young people recognize how much of a meal should come from each food group. The youth will compare healthy portion sizes to common items.

Instructor Notes

Foods commonly eaten by kids are typically served in larger portions than what their bodies really need. Often it’s the foods high in less desirable nutrients (fat, sugar and sodium) that are served as the largest portion. Fruits and vegetables, rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber are usually given the least emphasis. The impact of this distortion of portions over time could impact health by contributing to obesity and increased risk for chronic (long-lasting) diseases.

Introduction

Show the youth the baggie with 1 cup of cereal in it. Then show them the baggie with 2 cups of cereal in it.

Ask the young people which portion looks like the amount they would pour in their bowl. Is it the single serving, double or possibly adding the two baggies together, which would represent three servings.

Display the three different sized bowls and ask the class what size bowl do they use when they eat cereal? It is easier to eat more than we need when we are using large portion bowls.

Pour cereal from box into each bowl and then measure how many servings actually fit into each bowl.

Ask the young people, what are some other foods that they would likely eat more than one serving at a time? Examples: macaroni and cheese, ice cream, chicken nuggets, chips/snack crackers.

Activity: MyPlate

Introduce the youth to MyPlate. Show MyPlate graphic or use our Interactive Whiteboard activity (see What You Need) to talk about MyPlate. Explain to the youth that it is important for our bodies to get the right balance of foods so we can stay strong and healthy as we grow. If we get too much of one kind of food and not enough of another, our bodies could end up getting sick or not growing the right way.

Show them how certain foods have a place on MyPlate.

Ask the youth why they think fruits and vegetables take up 1/2 of the plate.

• These foods give us lots of nutrients (vitamins, minerals, fiber) for our bodies so we want to make sure we are eating enough of them.

Now, let’s practice and see if we can match the different food group items to their recommended portion size. Ask the youth: What are some of the ways to get just the right portion of a food item the next time we eat a meal or snack?

• Use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to see portion sizes visualized. (See links below).
• Use common items such as a DVD/CD or a tennis ball to help us with our portion sizes.
• Include fruits and vegetables more often because they are the foods we want to eat the most. If time permits, use the ChooseMyPlate.gov Food Gallery to come up with your own comparison of portion size to common objects.

• • Vegetables
  • Grains
  • Protein foods
  • Fruit
  • Dairy

Conclusion

Welcome additional ideas the youth have and encourage them to remember to often include fruits and vegetables with their meals and snacks.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthy portion sizes at home.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog

Portion sizes: What amount is ‘right’?

Additional Instructor Resources

• Check the Nutrition Facts Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Putting MyPlate Into Action Video
• ChooseMyPlate.gov
• Portion Distortion and Serving Size

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how using the Nutrition Facts label helps them make healthy food choices. They will practice reading food labels, looking for calories, ingredients, and daily value percent’s.

Introduction

Understanding and using the Nutrition Facts label is an important step in helping young people fight obesity and prevent health problems later in life. By reading labels, young people will become more aware of what’s in the foods they eat. They will also get the information they need to make healthful food choices and establish good eating habits for life.

Show the youth the FDA’s “The Food Label & You” video. (Teacher to select entire video or any of the individual segments to show.)

Activity: Reading Nutrition Labels

Pass out two to three nutrition facts labels to each young person or group.

Ask the youth to take a few minutes to do the following:

Locate the Nutrition Facts label for your food item(s).

• Find the Serving Size and Servings Per Container. Remember: all of the nutrition information on the label is based on one serving of the food. A package of food often has more than one serving!

• Find the calories. They are the “fuel” our bodies need for our daily activities.

• The calories listed are for one serving. Tell the youth that many people don’t even realize how many servings they are eating.  Remind young people that for the most part calories are good.

• Find the Total Fat grams (g) for one serving. Under Total Fat, find the grams (g) of Saturated Fat. The grams (g) of Saturated Fat are part of the Total Fat grams (g). To keep our hearts healthy, it is important that we are aware of how much Total Fat (especially fats that are not good for our hearts such as Saturated Fats and Trans Fats) we are eating. We want to eat less of these nutrients.

• Find the % of daily value. The percent of daily value shows how the amount of a nutrient fits into a 2,000 calorie diet.  Individual calorie needs will vary based on age, sex, size and activity level. The 5/20 rule says that if a food has 5% of daily value then it is low in that nutrient. If it has 20% of daily value then it is high in that nutrient. This can be good or bad depending if it is a nutrient that you want to have more of, such as calcium, iron, or less of, such as cholesterol or fat.

• Ingredients: This shows the order of ingredients found in the food product from the most to least. This is where you will find if a food product is made from whole grains, has added sugars, and/or other ingredients that may have a positive or negative impact on your overall health.

Call on young people or groups and have them share their findings with the others.

Conclusion

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish so that families can practice reading food labels and discuss good eating habits at home.

Additional Instructor Resources

• How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
• Hey Kids Check the Label! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Reading the Food Label video

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people understand how to choose a healthful meal when eating school lunch. Youth will draw their lunch choices on paper trays, then examine the drawings to see if their meal represents the five food groups.

Instructor Notes

School lunches play an important part in meeting a child’s daily nutritional needs. Since most elementary age children need about 1,500 to 2,000 calories each day, the school lunch helps them meet that goal. Often young people will limit their food choices from the school lunch menu due to a lack of food/nutrition knowledge as well as some “selective” eating patterns. It is important to introduce young people at an early age to the concept of balance in eating. By choosing a variety of colorful foods from the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, dairy, grains and protein) they will have a healthful meal.

Activity: Love Your Lunch

This activity explores the current choices young people make at lunch by learning about the five food groups.

• Pass out a lunch tray template to each young person.  Ask the youth to fill in their lunch tray worksheet with their favorite school lunch menu food choices by coloring food items or cutting out pictures of food items from magazines.
• When the youth are finished drawing, review the lunch tray activity and ask young people the following questions:
  • How many young people have less than five colors on their tray?
  • How many have more than five colors?
• Explain that it is important to have many colors on their trays. Why do you think this might be true? It means that their lunch is more likely to include a variety of foods from the five different food groups which makes it a healthful meal.

• Introduce the youth to the five food groups: vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy, and protein. Show food models, the resources at ChooseMyPlate.gov or pictures of foods representing each of the five food groups.
  • How many different food groups do you have on your lunch tray?  If time permits, ask if young people want to share the food groups they have included on their lunch tray. Give positive feedback to the healthful five food group choices the youth have listed or drawn.
  • Ask young people what food item they could add or change the next time they go through the lunch line to make it an even healthier meal that includes more of the five food groups.
• Open the Online Interactive Lesson and Activity to review the five food groups. Young people can practice choosing more healthful foods for their bag lunch or school lunch.

Food Gallery
From ChooseMyPlate.gov

• Vegetables
• Grains
• Protein
• Fruit
• Dairy

Conclusion

Conclude the lesson by handing out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue talking about healthful food choices at home.

Health Powered Kids Blog

Back to school means helping kids choose a healthy lunch

Additional Instructor Resources

• ChooseMyPlate.gov
• Build A Healthful Bagged Lunch! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
• Build A Healthful School Lunch! – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps young people choose healthy snacks. The youth will color a worksheet and decide which foods are healthful choices.

Introduction

Introduce the lesson by discussing the following questions with young people:

Why do we eat snacks?

• Stop our stomachs from being hungry

When do we eat snacks?  

• Between mealtimes

How do we know if a snack is healthful?

• When we think of “Power-Up” snack choices we should think of how they might fit into the five food groups (vegetables, fruits, grains, dairy and protein). Snacks that keep our bodies strong and healthy can be tied to the five food groups.

Show food models or pictures as you explain the food groups. You may want to reference the MyPlate graphic as a guide. For example – baby carrots (vegetable), berries (fruit), pita bread (grains), string cheese (dairy), and hard-boiled egg (protein). As for potato chips and cheese balls, they maybe started out as a healthy vegetable or grain, but through processing, more than half of a serving becomes extra calories from added fats and sugars. Processing often adds extra salt to the food item too.

Ask the youth to share some examples of healthful snack choices versus unhealthful snack choices. Reinforce that we need to feed our bodies with healthful “Power-Up” snacks from the five food groups instead of snacks that won’t help to keep our bodies healthy and strong.

Open the Online Interactive Lesson and Activity. This helps you review the benefits of healthy snacking and gives examples of many snack foods from the five food groups. Young people can choose snacks from the food groups to build their own creative snack idea.

Activity: Healthful Snacks Coloring Sheet

Hand out the Healthful Snacks Worksheet. Give the young people a few minutes to color (or circle if time is limited) the healthful snacks on the worksheet. Take a couple of minutes to explain why the individual items are considered either healthful or unhealthful.

Conclusion

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing healthy snacking at home.

Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

Healthy snacking: Moving beyond milk and cookies

Snacking made easy!

Additional Instructor Resources

www.choosemyplate.gov
Sneaky Sugars Handout – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
What Kind of Sugar is in Your Food? Handout – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)
Are You a Smart Snacker? Handout – (Russian) – (Somali) – (Spanish)

Lesson Overview

This lesson helps raise awareness and promote safety about food allergies. The youth will practice packing an imaginary picnic lunch, paying attention to their friends’ dietary restrictions. They will think of treats that everyone can enjoy at special events.

Instructor Notes

This lesson is about raising awareness and promoting safety about food allergies. If there is a child in your group with food allergies, we suggest you talk to the parent and the child before the lesson to review what will be covered and make sure they are comfortable with it. We encourage you to invite the parent to attend the lesson and be involved.

Before facilitating this lesson, you may want to review the following information about food allergies. These facts can be shared with young people during your discussions.

• Any food can cause an allergic reaction but most are caused by eight foods:
  • peanuts
  • tree nuts (such as walnuts, pistachios, pecans, almonds and cashews)
  • milk (all dairy)
  • eggs
  • wheat
  • soy
  • fish (such as salmon, tuna)
  • shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster).
• Anyone could develop a food allergy or sensitivity to any food at any time.  Even if you have eaten the food several times before.
• Symptoms of an allergic reaction may range from minor, such as itching and hives, to anaphylaxis, a whole-body reaction that can include stomach pain or cramping, trouble breathing, confusion, cough, trouble swallowing, fainting, nausea, vomiting and more.
• If a person is having a food allergy reaction, they need help right away. Depending on the symptoms, they may need an antihistamine (such as Benadryl®), epinephrine (given through an auto-injector such as an EpiPen®, EpiPen Jr® or TwinJect®), or both.
• 911 needs to be called any time a dose of epinephrine is used or when you are worried about someone’s safety.
• Kids with food allergies often have anxiety about food. They may feel left out at meals or parties, or get teased or bullied because they are different, yet it’s actually fairly common to have a food allergy.  One in 13 kids under the age of six has a food allergy.
• Some people are so sensitive that even the smell of the food can trigger a reaction. When this is the case in the school setting, make the classroom a safe zone where no one can bring the known allergen. (For example, a “Peanut Free Zone”.)

Introduction

1. Ask young people what they know about food allergies. Share some of the facts listed above including the most common food allergens (nuts, wheat gluten, eggs and fish) and that people can develop food allergies at any point in their lives.
2. Before doing the lesson activities, have a brief discussion about what it might feel like to have a food allergy. What do you think it would feel like if you couldn’t eat something that everyone else is eating?

Activity: Be the Chef!

Be the Chef! Create a safe and fun picnic for all.

Let’s pack the picnic.  Explain that everyone is going to pack a lunch for an imaginary picnic with your friends. Some of the friends have food allergies. Tell the youth that the most commons foods your guests will be allergic to are the following: peanuts, tree nuts (such as walnuts, pistachios, pecans, almonds and cashews), milk, eggs, wheat, soy, fish (such as salmon, tuna), or shellfish (shrimp, crab, lobster).

To pack a safe and fun picnic for all the friends, they will want to select items for their picnic basket that are the safest for friends with food allergies.

List of foods for picnic basket:

Green light: Carrot sticks, Apples, Red pepper slices, Oranges, Bananas, Pears, Grapes, Strawberries, Pickles

Yellow light: Cookies, Hard candies, Chocolate, Crackers, Bean dip, Rice cakes, Guacamole, Beef jerky

Red light: Peanut butter sandwiches, Hard boiled eggs, Cheese sticks, Bagels with cream cheese, Chocolate chip-walnut cookies

Instructor note – Items in the yellow light category will have ingredient lists on the label and need to be read carefully to see if they are safe. They may have been made in a factory where other allergens are handled and therefore they shouldn’t be considered completely safe.

Afterwards, talk about the activity. Ask how easy or hard it was. How did they feel about the choices? How did they feel about packing something they knew would be safe for their friends? Share with them that even if they don’t have allergies themselves, their message to their friends who do can be: I care about you; I don’t want you to get sick.

Activity: Allergy-free Holidays and Special Events

Young people like to celebrate holidays and special events.  If a holiday, birthday or a special event is coming up on the school calendar, review these tips with the youth and then brainstorm ways your group could include the ideas to create a successful, allergy-free fun event.

1. Hold the chocolate.  Add some chocolate-free, peanut-free treats to your bowl. Nearly all chocolate treats on the market are made on equipment shared with peanuts and tree nuts (and are unsafe for those with milk allergy). Take a look at the chocolate-free options – such as Dum Dums® suckers, DOTS® and Smarties®. (Remember to always read labels and check with parents before giving any food to children with food allergies.)
2. Mix it up! Change the focus to non-food treats, such as holiday-themed pencils, notepads, stickers, goofy erasers or fun rings.
3. Wash your hands! If young people with food allergies come in contact with food from sticky fingerprints, it can make them sick, too. Washing hands after you eat is a great way to prevent unsafe foods from getting on shared tables, desks, school supplies, and toys or games.
4. If your parents bake something to bring in to share, ask them to supply the recipe along with any packaged ingredients they used to make the recipe.

Conclusion

Remind the youth that many young people have food allergies, so thinking of those friends or family members when you give out special treats shows that you care about them and don’t want them to be sick.

Continuing the Conversation

Hand out the Healthy Families Newsletter in English or Spanish, so that families can continue discussing ways care for friends and family members with food allergies.

Related Health Powered Kids Blog(s)

What you need to know about food allergies

Food Allergy Awareness for the School Year

Additional Instructor Resources

Food Allergies and How to Manage Them

Check out Anaphylaxis101.com for additional resources for teachers, parents and young people.

Visit FoodAllergy.org for more resources and consider posting this child-friendly poster in the classroom.